Run on Tamiflu rankles pharmacist

Consumer demand for the drugs Tamiflu and Relenza is skyrocketing -- which doesn't sit well with some health professionals. The prescription drugs can be used to prevent infection with influenza, including the swine flu virus. The drugs are also mildly helpful to people who are already infected with flu, shortening the duration of the illness by a day or so.

But Pacific Palisades pharmacist Christine Amos was aghast when about 25 prescriptions for Tamiflu came into the store Monday. Even during the winter months, the pharmacy usually only fills about one Tamiflu prescription per week, she says. The store also had many calls about the medications, but Amos informed customers that the medication was out of stock.

"Clearly these requests are for stockpiling and not for active infections," says Amos, who has been a pharmacist for 24 years. She works at Pharmaca on Sunset Boulevard. "These drugs sit in the medicine cabinets of the well-heeled who can demand and get a prescription for every single member of the family while these drugs remain in short supply for populations that may need it. People in under-served populations without access to medical care rely on clinics that may not have these antivirals in part due to unnecessary hoarding."

She noted that there are no active cases of swine flu in Pacific Palisades. Other area pharmacies are out of the medications, too.

"Forgive my cynicism but it seems in private medical practices, the tail wags the dog. In this era of advertised pharmaceuticals, many patients demand prescriptions based on advertising and media without the benefit of a physical examination."

A story in today's Los Angeles Times points to the problems of misusing antivirals. If the swine flu outbreak turns into a pandemic, the actions that Amos describes may come back to haunt all of us.

-- Shari Roan

Photo credit: Antoine Antonio / Bloomberg News

Comments

[viagra falls]

hi there, i'm a pill peddler in the palisades, forgive my cynicism, but i'm rankled that my well-heeled customers have obviously manipulated their clueless, morally vacuous doctors into prescribing something that, in my exalted and altogether better-informed opinion, they do not need, thereby cheating under-served populations, so in order to prevent the patient tails from wagging the doctor dogs indiscriminately, i am going to impose my moral judgment on them publicly in the los angeles times, because i am best suited to do this on account of birthright, superior intelligence and all-around, self-evident, self-authenticating goodness and integrity. even though i've never been to medical school, i'm still worth two or three of you at least, so it is i, not the prescribing doctor or the obviously malingering patient, who will determine what drugs you get and when, is this absolutely clear?

[San Antonio Bankruptcy Attorney Alex Wathen]

I hate to see panic. It would be better that people took common sense precautions such as using hand santizer.

[online drugstore]

In my opinion, all last viruses are a handwork of people, after all illnesses cannot arise in itself. At first a chicken flu, now pork - probably special services achieve any purposes. And if you need Tamiflu online - look it on nmefeyefoundation.org

[Ki]

I don't know, Viagra, I think she kinda has a point. The danger of drug-resistant strains of this (and other) viruses seems to be a real concern in this age, as well as the notion that consumers are able to demand certain medications from medical professionals without necessarily suffering the symptoms/condition itself.

Who knows. Perhaps doctors in the Palisades have suddenly become aware of the drug thanks to increased press coverage, and are prescribing it in common garden flu cases they previously wouldn't have used it for. Maybe there's an undisclosed off label use. Or perhaps there is a worrying trend for pharmaceutical companies to reach out directly to consumers for the same reason candy and toy manufacturers advertise directly to kids - just nag, nag, nag, and get what you want.

Sure, the socio-economic stereotyping may not be necessary, but I would be troubled by any doctor writing an effectively blank prescription. I also see nothing here about this woman refusing to prescribe the drug - she simply states they're out of stock. The cynic in me wonders what your motives are in chastising her for expressing her opinion here.

At any rate, I hope those in need of treatment for birdpigman flu are able to receive it.

[Francisco Sleepless]

Hey, there is one thing I fail to understand.
Tamiflu works best if taken in the very onset of the symptoms. Right? Okay, so I happen to have a really stupid doctor who did not prescribe this medication to me in advance. So, in case I catch a flu, I have to go to the hospital, wait for my appointment, then go for some tests - all this while wasting my precious time and infecting innocent bystanders during the ordeal. Would it not be better to give me an opportunity to keep medication at home and take it when, and if, I feel flu-like symptoms?
I really think that, due to the situation, the prescription requirement should be lifted. You may have a limit to, say, 2 packs a person. But let people take their medication in time, and save those poor souls who come for, say, ginecology appointment only to get the flu virus in the process.

[Allison]

Walgreens has sent secret confidential sealed totes containing Tamiflu for its management employees only. None for the clerks. This is unethical. Certainly it is understandable that the pharmcist and pharmacy technicians have priority in receiving a personal earmarked tamiflu rx but that should NOT have happened for the management in offices when the clerks in store who will be at higher risk and many who cannot even afford health insurance will be excluded from this special supply shipment. The bottom line is the tamiflu will only be available to the rich and the connected, Walgreens management should be ashamed of themselves for such unethical policies. Clerks ==Time to Unionize.